Curses and Witches and Wizards, Oh, My!
by Evil Queen of the Demon Pandas
Summary: HP Fruits Basket crossover. An odd combination, I know, but I'm an odd person. Anywho. What happens when a strange girl shows up on the Dursleys' front step...and Aunt Petunia is NICE to her? Twists, turns, and whiplash guaranteed! :3
1. Chapter 1

**Author's** **note:** It's here! A Furuba/Harry Potter cross-over! This is one of those things that's been rattling around in my head for a pretty good while, but I haven't actually set it down until now. It's weird, because I don't think I've written any fanfics about Harry Potter that didn't include me and my best friend. Who knows? We may still make cameo appearances, but I'll try to avoid it. Anyway. This is based on the Fruits Basket manga, so the colours of the Juunishi hair and eyes are all the ones displayed in the manga, not the anime. I've seen both, and I decided to go with the manga version. This is also set in the summer after the sixth Harry Potter book, for reference. So…go read, I guess. Have fun!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fruits Basket, or Harry Potter. If I did, I'd be _soooo_ much happier. Trust me. I guess I own the original characters. Yeah. Go, me! I own Mizuki-chan! laugh

**

* * *

Chapter One: A Reunion and a Meeting **

A loud scream pierced the groggy night. Harry sat straight up and fumbled for his glasses. He glanced at the clock by his bed. The numbers glowing the darkness read 2:14 a.m. He scrambled out of bed and practically flew downstairs, his heart pounding in his ears.

"What's wrong?" he shouted, skidding to a stop in front of the door.

Instead of the scene of blood and gore he'd expected, he saw a teenage girl with her arms thrown around Aunt Petunia's neck, squealing happily.

"Mizuki-chan!" Aunt Petunia laughed, hugging the girl in return.

The girl let go and clapped her hands happily, beaming at the older woman. "Kagura-chan, you've gotten positively _scrawny_," the girl scolded gently.

Aunt Petunia grinned. "Married, too," she boasted, extending the hand bearing her wedding ring.

The girl gasped. "Now _that_ is a rock. I think even Momiji-kun's wife might get jealous over that!" she exclaimed, staring at the diamond.

Aunt Petunia laughed, for what Harry was sure was the first time in his life.

"Um…Aunt Petunia?" he said slowly.

The girl looked up from Aunt Petunia's ring in surprise. Before he could move, she squealed, scurried over to him, and threw her arms around him, too, squeezing him tightly. "And you look just like your daddy! Got your mama's eyes, though. I haven't seen her in years, so I don't actually remember, but my Ha'ri's eyes are purple, so they must come from your mom," she said, stepping back to look at him.

"Uh…" He stared at the girl helplessly. She was a stranger, but there was something oddly familiar about her, like someone he'd known when he was very small. She was dressed in cut-off jean shorts, a black hooded sweatshirt with the word "GAMER" plastered across the front in silver letters, and combat boots. On her back hung a denim bag plastered with images from the Chinese Zodiac, with sayings written beside the animals in silver marker. Her black hair was bound into twin braids, tied with orange and black ribbons. They hung to her hips, making Harry wonder how long her hair was when she let it down. In the braids, stuck at odd angles, were a rather beat-up orange pen, a skeleton key, several bobbypins, a paper clip, and three safety pins.

"Poor Harry. I guess your Dragon is still active, right? I mean, your curse hasn't been broken," she said, peering into his eyes worriedly.

"Yes. But I haven't seem him transform since he was a child," Aunt Petunia said, her arms crossed over her chest. She drifted over to them and smiled at Harry. "I'm sorry I've been so cruel to you all these years. I had to, in order to keep Akito from hurting you. If he thought you were happy, he would've taken you from us, and then we wouldn't have been able to find you. But now that Mizuki-chan's here, that means we're going to fight him." She looked at Mizuki expectantly. "Right?"

She nodded. "We're finally going to take up arms against her. We're finally fighting back," she said softly.

Aunt Petunia hugged the girl and rested her head against Mizuki's. "I'm so happy to see you. I've missed everyone," she said quietly.

Mizuki hugged the older woman tight. "I know! I felt so horrible about leaving you here, alone, when the rest of us at least got to see each other. Even Momiji-kun got visitors, when we could risk it. You were stuck here without being able to talk to any of us. I'm so glad you're okay," she said, guilt obvious in her voice.

Aunt Petunia smiled and let go of Mizuki. "For a Sohma to be without the rest of the family is so weird. It's so freeing, not having Akito breathing down your neck, but at the same time it's so hard not having anyone around who understands. I couldn't even call Shii-chan!" she said.

"That's not exactly a bad thing," Mizuki said flatly.

Aunt Petunia laughed. "I'm going to go change clothes and grab my bag. Can you fill Harry in for me?" she said, starting toward the stairs.

Mizuki nodded and slipped her arm through Harry's. "I'll tell him everything I can think of!" she said brightly.

Aunt Petunia disappeared upstairs and Mizuki tugged at Harry's arm. "C'mon. Let's go make Kagura-chan some coffee or something. She looked like she needs it," she said, untying the ribbons binding her braids and letting her hair hang loose. It was even longer than he'd expected; even though it had been in the braids, it hung completely straight, down to her butt.

"Wh-who's Kagura-chan?" the bewildered Harry asked as Mizuki dragged him into the kitchen and pointed him toward the bar.

"Sit," she said firmly, then she started bustling around the kitchen. "She's your cousin, silly. I think she may be directly related to Shigure, but I'm not sure. Hell, all I really know is that Yuki has a brother, Kyo's an only child, and I have a 'non-Juunishi' sister named Mitsuki," she said.

"'Non-Juunishi'?" Harry said.

Mizuki paused and looked at him in surprise. "Yeah. Y'know…she's not one of the Juunishi," she said, obviously confused at his ignorance. She suddenly gasped and stared at him, coffee momentarily forgotten. "You don't even know about the Juunishi? You spend seven years with at least half of them and _you don't know about the Juunishi?_" Her voice rose to a shriek, and by the time she was done her nose was four inches from his, her palms flat on the counter and her eyes staring straight into his.

"Um…no?" Harry said timidly.

She rolled her eyes and groaned in annoyance. "I thought I would just have to fill you in on the past few years, not the entire Sohma history!" She picked up the coffee scoop and began angrily dumping grounds into a filter, grumbling under her breath.

"Well, are you going to tell me, or are you just going to make coffee strong enough to kill a troll?" Harry demanded.

Mizuki stopped grumbling and looked at him, setting the coffee scoop down next to the sink. For the first time, he noticed how dark her eyes were. Her black hair fell in her face, but her eyes glittered out from under that curtain. Her eyes were almost as black as her hair, eerie and haunting. For just a moment, he caught a glimpse of a scarred past, of a life lived under torture and terror. Then she sighed and smiled wearily.

"I suppose I should start from the beginning. Um…let's see. Your dad is a Sohma, like me, and like your aunt. I know you think she's your mom's sister, but she's really your dad's cousin. Or something. Anyway. Point is, the Sohma family is huge. There's, like, 200 of us total, but only about fifty of us are 'inside'. The rest are 'outside'. The ones 'inside' know about the curse." She suddenly stopped, biting her lip and staring at him. She sighed and hopped up onto the counter by the sink. "Do _you_ know about the curse?"

Harry shook his head. "I know how to cast a couple of curses, and my best friend can probably hex your head off, but I don't know anything about 'the' curse," he said. He glanced at the fridge and said, "Can you do magic?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah. A little," she said, shrugging.

"Good. You're not underage," he said, pulling out his wand.

"Uh…" She blinked as he waved his wand at the fridge. The door opened slowly and two bottles of soda flew out. Mizuki caught one as it glided past her head.

Harry waved his wand again and the fridge closed. His own bottle slid onto the counter in front of him, and he waved his hand at Mizuki. "Continue. Sorry," he said.

"Right. Anyway. The curse is…um…okay, well, let's start with this: you know what the Chinese zodiac is, right?" she said.

Harry nodded.

"Okay. Well, for the Sohma family, the zodiac is more than just an astrological tool. Twelve of the Sohmas are possessed by the vengeful spirits of the Zodiac: ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, ram, horse, dog, rat, boar, rooster, monkey, and cat. The cat isn't actually in the zodiac; it's a legend that goes along with it. For hundreds of years, twelve vengeful spirits that correspond to the zodiac have possessed the Sohma family. We don't have any special powers or anything–well, except for that we can communicate with our respective animals–but the 'curse' part of it is that when our bodies get weak, or, for some weird reason, when we're hugged by someone of the opposite gender, we transform into our animals. We transform back after a bit, but we're sorta naked, which sucks. But the point is, we're cursed, and it sucks royal butt," she said, taking a sip of her Coke.

Harry blinked. "So…you're saying that your family–_my­_ family–has this…curse?" he said slowly.

Mizuki nodded. "Yeah. When someone dies, any baby born could be cursed. It really sucks when a woman's already pregnant, and she can't do anything about her cursed child…" She looked down at her Coke, her knuckles suddenly white. She clutched the bottle tightly, as if it could save her from whatever pain lay within her. "That's what happened to my mom. She couldn't save her little girl from the curse."

"Poor Mizuki-chan. She didn't even have the experience benefit that the rest of us had," Aunt Petunia said, sweeping into the room. Harry's jaw dropped. She looked at least twenty years younger, and happier than he'd ever seen her. Her hair was down, with just a two pieces twisted back from the front to keep it back. She wore a short, deep blue dress and clunky black boots, and a silver, cat-shaped barrette glinted in her hair. On her back was an orange backpack shaped like a cat drawn in Japanese animation.

Mizuki looked up and smiled. "Kagura-chan! You look so pretty!" she squealed, simultaneously jumping off the counter and setting her Coke down. She scurried over to Aunt Petunia and hugged her tightly. "You look like our Kagura-chan again!" she said happily.

Aunt Petunia laughed. "I feel so much better in these clothes!" she said.

"Um…yeah! British housewife is so not you," Mizuki said, nodding.

"I know. I'm definitely not the 'housewife' type," Aunt Petunia said.

Mizuki snorted. "More the 'kicking-husband's-ass' type," she muttered.

Aunt Petunia laughed and threw one arm around the younger girl's shoulders. "How is Kyo-kun, anyway?" she asked.

Mizuki rolled her eyes. "How 'bout we discuss that during the car ride? It's not exactly a short story," she said.

Aunt Petunia nodded. "Okay." She looked at Harry and smiled. "C'mon. We'd better get out of here before Vernon gets home, or we'll never be able to leave. He said he'd be home sometime before dawn today. Sometimes one has to call in a favour and convince a few people to take one's husband and son fishing," she said, extending her hand to him.

Harry stared at her offered hand, then into her face, then at the hand again. He glanced at Mizuki, who was smiling and drifting toward the door. Half-finished thoughts whirled around his head, starting bar fights and crashing into jukeboxes. "What the hell is going on?" he finally burst.

Mizuki groaned and dropped her head into her hand, but Aunt Petunia just smiled kindly. "I know it's all very hard to comprehend, Harry. But you just have to trust us, and I promise you: if you come with us now, something very good will be waiting for you at the other end of this journey," she said gently.

"Like what?" Mizuki and Harry said simultaneously.

Aunt Petunia shot Mizuki a Look. "We're going to see people who can fight," she said through her teeth. "Like Yuki-kun…"

"Ooooh," Mizuki said, a grin on her face.

"Who's Yookeekoon?" Harry demanded.

Aunt Petunia laughed. "Yuki-_kun_, Harry. He's a cousin of ours. He's the Rat," she said.

Harry just stared.

"We're going to see Yuki," Mizuki sighed.

"Who's he?" Harry wanted to know.

Aunt Petunia and Mizuki exchanged knowing looks. "Someone who met you before, but couldn't tell," Aunt Petunia said mysteriously.

Suddenly, Mizuki's hip began playing a song Harry vaguely recognised. "_I'll keep you my dirty little secret/ Don't tell anyone or you'll be/ just another regret_…" a faint, canned voice sang.

She sighed and plunged her hand into her shorts pocket. "This thing rings at the worst moments," she grumbled. She glanced at the front of the cell phone and flipped it open. "We're on our way, sweetie," she said, bypassing a greeting. She listened for a minute, then said, "Yeah, I got him. Kagura-chan, too."

Aunt Petunia frowned. "Who is it?" she mouthed.

"Kisa-kun," Mizuki replied silently. Aloud, she said, "Wait. You want us to go get who, now?"

Another moment of silence, in which Harry peered curiously at Mizuki. "Should I go get luggage or something? My trunk's already packed," he whispered to Aunt Petunia.

She shook her head. "No need. There's clothes where we're going," she replied quietly.

"No way!" Mizuki gasped.

"What's wrong?" Aunt Petunia asked.

Mizuki held up one hand for silence, scowling. "No! I am not taking these two to go get…that one! Especially you-know-who!" she snapped. Then she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose between thumb and forefinger. "Sorry. I'm sorry, Kisa-kun. I know. I just…I'm hungry, and I still haven't talked to Fred today, and the kid knows absolutely nothing, so we're going to have to coach him on what's going to happen when he meets Ha'ri…" She was quiet, then continued, "Yeah. That's fine. I'll explain everything to the kid if you'll get everyone there. I just can't handle that right now. My senses are already on high alert tonight, and you know what'll happen if we put those two together. I'm so having one of those 'I-really-hate-reading-waves-and-being-an-empath-slash-telepath' moments."

"We got detail duty?" Aunt Petunia whispered.

Mizuki nodded. "Okay. Yeah, we'll be there in about an hour, sweetie. I'll see you when I get there," she said. She glanced at Harry, then got a sly grin on her face. "Hey. Uh, tell the girl that we're bringing her man by," she said. She paused, then laughed. "I know, I know. He gave her the 'it's too dangerous' speech, but I am _so_ going to give him a lecture about that. They'll be back together before midnight. Tell her that, too."

Harry stared. "We're going to the Burrow?" he blurted.

Mizuki winked and nodded. "All right. Bye, Kisa-kun. Tell Hiro-chan we're coming so that he doesn't starting bitching when we get there." She snapped the phone shut and stuck it back in her pocket. "All right, boy and girl. We're making a slight detour, but we're making good time, so we still have time for the milk-shake-drive-by I was planning on. I need me a McDonald's Triple Thick, y'know?" she said, beaming and trotting toward the door. "Let's go, folks. No time for standing and staring at each other," she called over her shoulder.

"C'mon, Harry. I'll explain more in the car," Aunt Petunia said, grabbing his hand and pulling him along. They hurried out to a massive truck parked outside and scrambled inside.

By the time Harry had crawled into the backseat, Mizuki was in the driver's seat, fiddling with the radio and starting the truck up. Aunt Petunia slipped into the passenger seat and grinned. "Shall we go?" she said loftily.

"We shall," Mizuki laughed, and they lurched into a race down the street that reminded Harry slightly of the Knight Bus.

**

* * *

Author's note:** First chapter! Yay! It's sort of long, but I just started typing and forgot to stop. But oh, well. I just had to have Mizuki's ring tone be _Dirty Little Secret_. That's All-American Rejects, y'know. I've always thought that this song sort of fits the Sohmas in general. There's a million others that fit Yuki, Tohru, Kyo…but that's another fanfic. As far as this one goes, I just couldn't help but put that song in there. Hope you liked! It'll all start to make sense eventually. Just sit tight and bear with me, okay? Thanks! 

For reference, here's a pronunciation list, just in case some of you haven't read Fruits Basket:

Kisa: KEE-sah

Hiro: HE-roh

Kagura: Ka-GUR-ah

Mizuki: Mee-ZOO-kee (she's actually a character I invented, but the name's Japanese, so…)

Uotani (Uo-chan): OO-oh-tahn-ee (OO-oh-chan)

Hanajima (Hana-chan): Hahn-ah-JEE-ma (Hahn-ah-chan)

Momiji: Moh-MEE-gee (or you can say it how I say it: MOHM-ah-jee)

Sohma: SOH-ma

Hatori: HAH-tor-ee

Mayuko: MAI-oo-koh

Hatsuharu: HAHT-soo-HAHR-oo

Kyo: KEEYO (one syllable, not KEE-oh, which is how I said it before I watched the anime. I'm American, people! This isn't exactly my native tongue, here.)

All right. Well, that's it. If you want more, please review! I've got the chapters sitting in my computer, but I don't want to put forth the effort of uploading them if no one likes this bit. Yeah...I'm pretty lazy. But anyway. So if you like, please say so! Oh, and if I pronounced Mizuki-chan's named wrong, tell me that, too. I think that's right, but, y'know, never been to Japan, don't know anyone from there, so... ; P


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note:** I'm gettin' all hyped up on the updates. Yay, me! … Okay, maybe not so good, because I know I'm still being REALLY slow, but…well, I've got a list of excuses and assorted inanimate objects I could blame, but I'll just let you draw your own conclusions. Point is: I'm sorry-sorry-sorry, and I hope you can forgive me and not let your hatred of me colour your opinion of my writing. Don't blame poor Mizuki-chan and the others for my mistakes! All right, I'll shut up now and let you get on about with the reading of the fanfic.

P.S. Thanks to EVERYONE for reviewing. Don't think I forgot about all my reviewers!

The girl drove about as well as the driver of the Knight Bus, too, even without the speed. She kept flinging the truck around corners, nearly mowed down two pedestrians, and fairly destroyed a full six-pack of beer that was laying in the street.

This last event caused her to burst into giggles, nearly laying on the steering wheel and roar with laughter. "Did…did you see that?" she gasped, slowing down a bit and barely keeping the truck in the right lane.

"Good Lord, Mizuki-chan! That was…you're…you're insane!" Aunt Petunia said, the upper half of her body flung across the arm rest they shared.

"I know!" Mizuki giggled, wiping tears from her eyes and sitting up a little straighter.

She slowed down a bit for the rest of the drive, even after they swung into a nearby fast food restaurant for milkshakes. Nevertheless, Harry spent a fair amount of time clinging to the seat and his own clothing in terror, his knuckles white.

"So, are we going to tell the kid what's waiting for him, or are we just going to sort of spring it on him?" Mizuki asked around a mouthful of chocolate milkshake.

Aunt Petunia glanced back at Harry, who still clutched a rather large handful of his hooded sweatshirt. "Are you all right, Harry?" She, at least, seemed to have adjusted to Mizuki's out-of-control driving, and now just leaned gracefully to one side or another when the younger girl took a particularly wild turn.

He nodded, not trusting his own voice.

Mizuki laughed. "I think I scared the voice out of him!"

Aunt Petunia slapped her arm gently. "Mizuki-chan, be nice. It's not every day the poor boy gets sent on a rampaging ride of death," she scolded. "But then, you _do_ seem to manage it at least once a year," she added, glancing at Harry.

He blinked. "You know about that?" he said, surprise briefly overriding his fear.

"Of course. You think you're the only one with connections in your wizarding world?" Aunt Petunia said loftily.

"Who do _you_ know?" he demanded.

The women exchanged exasperated glances. "Let's just say that we–well, Kagura, at least–probably grew up with at least half the people you've known for six years," Mizuki said.

He stared at the two, his eyes darting from one to the other. He finally settled on Aunt Petunia. She was the one who had shocked him most. He was rather used to people entering his life and saying strange things, but Aunt Petunia had been one of those things he could count on: she would always hate him, and love Dudley, and that was simply the end of that. But now…

"W-what was that she was calling you?" he asked her.

Aunt Petunia laughed. "Oh! Harry, my name isn't really Petunia Dursley. I'm Kagura Sohma, and this is my cousin, Mizuki Sohma. We all had to change our names when we went into hiding," she explained.

Mizuki wiggled her fingers over her shoulder at him. "Hey. I kept my name, thankyouverymuch," she said, shooting Aunt Petunia–_Kagura. Her name's Kagura_, Harry reminded himself rather forcefully–an annoyed look.

Kagura rolled her eyes. "Okay, we all, EXCEPT FOR MIZUKI-CHAN, changed our names," she corrected.

Mizuki laughed. Harry was beginning to notice that she did that a lot, and, in turn, influenced Kagura to do the same. "Get your facts right, Kagura-chan!"

"I'm _so_ sorry if I've been dealing with a lot. I'll ignore all that to pay attention to every detail of your life," Kagura said sarcastically.

Mizuki grinned. "Good," she said happily.

"About how long do we have until we get there?" Kagura asked, apparently choosing to ignore Mizuki's last comment.

"Um…an hour, maybe. Hour and a half if we get stuck in traffic," Mizuki replied, glancing at the clock set into the dash. Instead of the usual glowing, green numbers, this one bore scripty, glowing, silver numbers, with four different times displayed. Harry blinked at it, then looked at Kagura. At this point, the odd clock was the most normal thing that had happened that night.

Kagura twisted around in her seat to look Harry in the eyes. "Mizuki-chan told you about the curse and everything, didn't she?" she said.

Harry nodded. "How I'm…a dragon?"

"Right. Did she explain what that _means_? About being hugged and everything?"

Harry nodded again. "Yeah."

"What do you _think_ we talked about? The price of tea in China?" Mizuki demanded, her voice dripping with mock offence.

"I just wanted to make sure before I started telling him about all this other stuff!" Kagura sighed.

"What…other stuff?" Harry said slowly.

"Um…all right. We'll start with this," Kagura said, half to herself. She smiled at Harry and shifted into a more comfortable position. "You're possessed with the spirit of the Dragon," she began.

"Wait…_I'm possessed!_"

"Not the biggest news you're going to get, so calm down," Mizuki said serenely in response to his widened eyes.

"Yeah. And…your mom's not dead."


	3. Chapter 3

Harry stared at her, shock numbing his mind and making his fingers sort of tingle. "W-what?" he stammered.

"Your dad died, Harry. That part is true. But…your mom lived," Kagura said, watching him carefully.

Harry's eyes darted wildly to Mizuki, part of him begging her to start laughing and tell him it was a joke. But her eyes were focused on him in the rear-view mirror, and there was no laughter in the blackness. "You okay, kid?" she asked, sounding genuinely concerned about his mental well-being.

"No," he said simply, without even really thinking about it.

"I knew you should've led with the thing about Voldemort," Mizuki muttered, her hands tight on the steering wheel.

"What about Volde–you know what? How about we go back to this thing about my mom leaving me alone for sixteen years and letting me think she was dead?" Harry snapped.

Kagura sighed. "I really am sorry. But you need to hear the whole story," she said gently.

Harry crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in the seat, fixing her with a fierce green glare. "Fine," he said shortly. Anger was overriding everything else, including the shock. He liked it better that way.

"Okay. Um…right. Your dad was the Dragon, right? But your mom doesn't have anything. She isn't cursed; she isn't even a Sohma. But she is a witch, so she can do magic by instinct that the rest of us have to learn. She taught it to your father after they married, as a safety precaution. Voldemort was very attached to your father. Considered him his right-hand man, ever since we were kids. So when your dad got married, Voldemort was furious. Went on a rampage to find them. Managed to get his hands on your dad, right after Ha'ri sent your mom and you to live with…um…Sirius.

Then when some idiot told Voldemort that you were born, and had the Dragon, well…that just poured gasoline on the fire, didn't it? So he started hunting you down, determined to kill your mom and, in doing so, get you to rejoin him and complete his 'banquet'–more on that later. Well, one night in June, Voldemort showed up at Sirius's house with his marvellous 'Avada Kedavra' spell. He kidnapped Sirius and zapped him back to the main hou…camp.

Your mom was going to zap you out of there, but I guess shock and grief slowed her down. Voldemort grabbed her wand before she could do it. So she bolted to the back of the house with you and was going to hug you and toss you out a window. You'd have transformed into a dragon and been okay, so don't fret.

But before she could, Sirius came back, jumped Voldemort from behind, and zapped the both of them back to camp. Incredibly brave for an otherwise cowardly man, but we always knew he'd do anything to get what he wanted. Your mom knew Sirius was in trouble, so she placed some sort of protection spell on you and went after him.

She were planning to come back after you, but Kunimitsu has already gotten you and taken you to Shishou. So your mom had to go into hiding without telling you good-bye. She couldn't have any contact with you out of fear that Voldemort would find you and kill you. He's pissed, and is more interested in just killing you and getting a new Dragon than converting you."

When Kagura finally stopped talking, Harry just sort of looked at her. Mizuki was sipping on her milkshake and driving calmly as if all this information were rather boring to her. Kagura watched him carefully, her eyes searching his face for his reaction.

"So…where is she? My mom," he said, sighing heavily. There seemed to be no other option but to accept it. And who's to say it was even true? It was possible that Aunt Petunia had finally lost her marbles and was just babbling. No need to panic until he saw his parents in flesh and blood, standing before him and confirming her words.

Kagura smiled in relief. "She'll be at the Burrow. She might be a bit late, but she'll be there."

"She's really anxious to see you. Nearly ripped my throat out with her bare hands the last time I showed up at the house without you," Mizuki said, taking a turn with a grace Harry didn't know she possessed.

"What about you? Do you have that?" Harry asked her.

She nodded. "The curse? Yeah. I'm the Rooster. I took over after Kureno-san died," she said.

"Who else are we related to?" Harry asked, burying his hands in the pocket of his hoodie and looking at them curiously.

"Um…well, there's Rin-chan, who's sort of–how did Shigure always put it?–_'difficult to manage_'," she said. She glanced at Harry in the rear-view mirror. "You might know her. She changed her name to Nymphadora Tonks when we did all that."

Harry blinked. "Tonks is related to us?" He was already beginning to think of Mizuki as family, and his innate hatred of Aunt Petunia was slowing giving way to a liking for Kagura.

Mizuki nodded. "Yeah. I hear she's getting married to Haru in a year or so," she said. She laughed a little. "Sorry. Remus Lupin," she corrected herself.

"So…you're related to Lupin, too?" Harry said.

Kagura nodded. "But don't worry. I think they're, like, thirtieth cousins or something. And aren't we all related, on some level?" she said.

Harry nodded. He was suddenly very, very tired.

"Go on and go to sleep, honey. We'll wake you up when we get there," Mizuki said kindly.

"Weren't you going to talk to him about…" Kagura murmured, giving the other girl a significant look.

"Oooh. Right. Um, you were dating that Ginny girl, right?" Mizuki said to Harry.

He nodded, forcing his eyes to stay open.

"Listen. Voldemort won't touch her. He barely had the courage to attack Tohru-kun; he won't touch your girl. We're the ones he's always after. So don't worry about it. Do you love her?" she continued.

"Yeah," Harry mumbled.

"Then go ahead. We'll watch your ass, anyway," Mizuki said. "We're pretty good at protecting people. It's a skill we all had to learn…"

Harry nodded, curling up into a ball on the seat.

"Let the boy sleep, Mizuki," Kagura said gently, interrupting the girl's tirade.

"Oh. Okay. Go on, sweetie. You'll know when we get there."

But he wasn't listening anymore. He was just so tired…


	4. Chapter 4

"And we…are…heuh!" Mizuki crowed.

Harry opened his eyes and sat up, rubbing his head with one hand. "We're there?" he mumbled.

Kagura nodded. "Yeah. It's pretty late; I don't know if anyone's awake. So be quiet going in, okay?" she said.

Harry nodded blearily and stumbled out of the truck. It was still dark, and the only light was the bright silver moon overhead. Kagura and Mizuki got out of the truck, too, bickering in fierce whispers. Harry followed them across the yard to the door, half listening and half looking up at the familiar bulk of the Burrow.

"What do you mean, Kyo-kun is here!" Kagura hissed.

"He's staying with Tohru-kun now! Her daughter thinks he's her cat, so when she came here, she brought him," Mizuki whispered, sounding a bit exasperated.

"I'm going to wring his neck!" Kagura's eyes flashed dangerously.

"No, you're not. You're going to calm down and not let anyone know that he's not just a regular cat. When he's ready to show everyone, he will. Just leave him be!" Mizuki warned.

"Is Tohru-kun here?" Kagura asked, changing the subject with a note of barely subdued anger.

"I don't think so. We're supposed to meet her later, after we get all this mess with the kid sorted out. We've got to get everyone reunited with their assorted offspring before we do anything," Mizuki replied.

By that point, they were standing in front of the door. Mizuki laid her hand on the knob and gave Kagura a meaningful look. "I mean it. No choking him, no beating him with tables…as far as you know, he's _just_ a _cat_," she said.

"I understand," Kagura said meekly.

Mizuki nodded and opened the door. Golden light spilled out onto the ground, and before Harry could even see anyone, Mizuki was shrieking, "_Kisa-kun!_" and running inside with her arms flung wide.

Kagura rolled her eyes and laughed, walking in after her cousin. "It's good to see you all," she said.

Harry lingered outside, feeling, for the first time, reluctant to enter the Burrow. What lay inside, waiting to surprise him? The Burrow, in his mind, was safe and comfortable. It was one of the few sanctuaries that remained in his life. What if something happened, and he could no longer look at it the same way again?

"Aren't you missing someone?" a man's voice asked, sounding sarcastic and exasperated at the same time.

"No. Who are we–wait a minute. Where's the kid? Harry?" Mizuki suddenly reappeared in the doorway, hands on her hips. "What're you doing outside in the cold? Well, it's not terribly cold, but still. The point is, you're out here, and everyone else is in there." She looked at him curiously, her dark eyes sparkling under her black bangs.

"Is my…" The words stuck in his throat, choking him and making it hard to breathe. "Is my mom in there?" he managed to get out.

Mizuki shook her head. "I don't think so. Mayu-chan wanted to go see Kana-chan. We're a little early, so they weren't expecting us for about half an hour," she said. She tilted her head to one side and narrowed her eyes at him. "Why? Are you okay?"

Harry cleared his throat and nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine," he said, stepping quickly into the house. Mizuki shrugged and shut the door behind them.

It seemed as though everyone he knew was packed into the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley was side by side with a smaller, orange-haired woman at the stove, poking something with her wand. The Weasley twins were in the corner with a brown-haired man, apparently collaborating on something, if the sly grins on all their faces were any indication.

Lupin and Tonks were sitting at the table, hand in hand, though Tonks no longer resembled the cheerful girl he'd last seen. Her hair was as long as Mizuki's and just as black, framing a slender face and black eyes. She was still smiling, but it was more of a haunted, lonely smile than he'd ever seen on her face.

A man with curly blond hair was laughing and tickling a plump, giggling woman Harry was sure he'd seen before, but couldn't quite place. Hermione and Ron sat next to each other across the table from Lupin and Tonks, his arm around her shoulders. Neville sat by Ginny, who looked as though she weren't entirely sure whether to be happy or miserable.

Neville, on the other hand, was _beaming_. He looked happier than Harry had ever seen him, including all the times he'd been complimented on his astounding Herbology work. He kept glancing at the blond man and the plump woman and smiling to himself. Harry thought that he looked like a man who'd had his most secret, most prayed-for dreams come true.

Mizuki had squeezed her way to the back and was standing behind Fred, her elbows resting on his shoulders and her chin resting on top of his head. He didn't seem to mind; on the contrary, he was holding her arm as if to keep her there.

"Harry!" Hermione burst. She wriggled out from under Ron's arm and scrambled over to him. She was about to throw her arms around him when she froze and glanced at the woman next to Mrs. Weasley. "Can I?" she asked timidly.

The woman shook her head. "I'm sorry, Granger-san. We can't deal with a Dragon in the house," she said sympathetically.

Hermione slowly lowered her arms and bit her lip. "This isn't fair," she muttered.

At least five people burst out laughing.

"You noticed!" the blond man chuckled.

"Welcome to our world," the brown-haired man with the twins called.

"At least his isn't very big!" the orange-haired woman said encouragingly.

"Yeah, yeah. Because that makes it _so_ much better," Tonks muttered.

"Well, it does. Wouldn't you be happier if you weren't the Horse? Momiji-kun is the Rabbit, so he must be very happy. Not that being the Horse isn't good, but the smaller ones are best," Mizuki said.

Tonks rolled her eyes. "You've got to stop hanging out with Honda-san," she said.

Mizuki laughed. "I know!"

Ron stood up and walked over to him. "Wondered when you'd show up, mate," he said, grinning.

"I'm here, aren't I?" Harry said. Slowly, the cold, terrified feeling inside him was fading. It was hard to feel alone with all these people around, laughing and smiling and talking.

"We've been so worried about you!" Hermione said, peering at him anxiously. "Ron's aunt and uncle were here when I got here, and they explained some of what was going on, then everyone else started showing up, but you still weren't here, and I was just so worried!" she said. It was obvious she was using every ounce of restraint to keep herself from hugging him.

"Which one's your aunt?" Harry asked.

Ron nodded at the woman by Mrs. Weasley. "That's her. Kisa. Her husband's the one back there with the twins. His name's Hiro," he said.

Kisa glanced at Harry and smiled. "Hi, Harry. I've heard a lot about you," she said. Her eyes were nearly the same colour as her hair: a strange, bright orange.

"Um…" Harry blinked uncomfortably.

"It's all good stuff, so don't worry," Mizuki said around a mouthful of bread.

"Mizuki-chan! Stop eating everything!" Kagura chided. She'd taken her place on Mrs. Weasley's other side, slicing bread and laying it in a basket.

"Oooh!" Mizuki made a face at the older woman. "Mayu doesn't eat much. There'll be plenty," she grumbled.

Kagura just rolled her eyes and smacked Mizuki's hand away from the bread basket.

Harry suddenly realised that Ginny's eyes hadn't left his face since he walked in the door. He looked at her and smiled uncertainly. He was painfully aware of her reputation as a champion caster of the Bat-Bogey Hex, and he wasn't entirely sure whether or not he should be hiding.

She stood up slowly and walked toward him. "Can we talk?" she said quietly, taking his hand.

He glanced at Ron, who just shrugged. Hermione gave him a slight shove in the back. "Go!" she hissed.

He let Ginny lead him outside, away from the warmth and cheerfulness of the kitchen and out into the cool darkness. Even with the door shut, he could hear Mizuki bickering pleasantly with Kagura and Tonks. He smiled slightly. That girl was really starting to grow on him.

"Harry." Ginny's grave voice snapped him back to her.

He looked down at her, absently realising her hand was still in his. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Not really. I just…I've been talking to Aunt Kisa. She said that…that we shouldn't live in fear that Voldemort will find out about us and hurt me. That it's stupid, and that all it does is give him the upper hand. We're just submitting to him and letting him win if we do that," she said. When she was done, she took a deep breath and exhaled, as if she were slightly glad it was done.

Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "But what if he hurts you? I couldn't live with myself if…" he began, but she cut him off.

"That's the point! Are we going to sit here and be scared that he's going to hurt everyone you know? Are you going to cut yourself off from everyone just because you're afraid that he _might_ find out you know them? That's stupid, Harry, and you know it," she said urgently, squeezing his hand.

Harry shook his head. "He'll hurt you, though…" he protested weakly.

Ginny stomped her foot and tore her hand from his. "Would you listen to me!" she cried. He blinked at her. Her eyes were shining in the moonlight, and he could tell she was trying hard not to cry. "If we break up just because we're afraid of Voldemort, then he's already won and we might as well just give up now. You can't fight this battle alone, so you might as well let me help you!"

For a moment, he just stared at her. Then he swallowed hard and nodded. "You're right," he said quietly.

She smiled through the tears that were running down her face. "I wonder why we never hugged before," she said, laughing a little.

"I wish we could," he murmured. He kissed her carefully, for the first time really noticing that he wasn't hugging her, momentarily forgetting the two months he'd spent sitting alone in his bedroom at the Dursleys', wondering if he'd ever see her again.

"Aren't they just the cutest thing ever?" a choked voice said.

He pulled away and looked at the house in surprise. Mizuki, Kisa, and the plump woman Harry sort of recognised were standing in the doorway, their arms around each other's shoulders and tears in their eyes.

"Don't you just love it when Sohmas get non-Juunishi loves…and it works?" the stranger said, wiping her eyes with a tissue.

"It just makes me so happy!" Mizuki beamed at Harry through her tears.

"I miss my Kyo-kun!" Kagura wailed, burying her face in her hands.

Instantly, the other two began stroking her hair and shushing her.

"Oh, Kagura-chan. At least you fell for a member of the Zodiac!" Mizuki sobbed, spinning on her heel and dashing back into the house. "_Where's Fred!_"

The plump woman steered Kagura back into the house. "Come on, dear. We'll leave these two alone and I'll make you some tea. Doesn't that sound nice?" she said kindly.

Kagura nodded, her hands still hiding her face.

"What are you crying about now?" a woman's voice said suddenly. Harry spun around, simultaneously drawing his wand and pushing Ginny behind him. His eyes searched the darkness for the source of the voice.

Kagura stopped dead and lifted her head. "Mayuko-san!" she cried, running from the plump woman and toward Harry and the bodiless voice.

A woman stepped out of the darkness, her head held high. Harry's jaw dropped, and his wand slipped from his fingers as his arms fell to his sides.

"Harry?" Ginny said tentatively, coming to stand next to him.

"Mum…?" Harry stammered.


	5. Chapter 5

The woman wiggled her fingers in greeting. "Hello, Harry." Harry stared at her. Lily had cut her dark red hair, and it was boy-short around her face. Her eyes were brilliant green, just like Harry's.

"_Mayuko-san_!" Kagura squealed, running to Lily and throwing her arms around her neck.

"Hello, Kagura-san," she said, hugging her tight.

"Oh, my God, I missed you! I haven't seen anyone in so long and I just missed you all so much!" she cried, letting go and beaming at her.

She laughed. "I missed you, too, Kagura-san," she said warmly.

Then Kagura glanced at Harry and said, "I'll let you guys bond. I'll go…make sure Mizuki doesn't do anything stupid."

She vanished into the house, leaving Ginny and Harry standing in front of Lily.

"Do you want me to go…?" Ginny whispered, tugging at his shirt.

He shook his head. He didn't want to be alone with his mom. It was like staring a ghost in the face, only he knew what it was like to look at a ghost. This was more like watching people step from a painting to the ground, then having them smile at you as if they'd just been given the world on a silver plate. The small part of him that was still logical was screaming that he was dreaming, that there was no way his mom could be alive. He'd seen her shadow burst from Voldemort's wand in his fourth year, with his father, when he'd accidentally performed the _Priori Incantatem_, hadn't he? How could she be standing there, if he knew she was dead?

"Harry…" his mother said in a small voice. She was obviously uncomfortable, and she stepped toward him cautiously. "I've missed you so much," she said quietly, her eyes softening.

He stared at her. "But…you left me," he said slowly.

She stopped and sighed, hanging her head. "I know. And…I would tell you I'm sorry, but I know that can't cover it. I…I really did want to come for you years ago."

"But you didn't," he said. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. All his life, people had been telling him his parents were dead. And now his mother showed up and expected everything to be rainbows and Popsicles? Wasn't happening.

"Harry, you've got to believe us. We really did try to come for you. But by the time we got there, Kazu…Dumbledore had already gotten you. When we told him we wanted you back, he told us it was too dangerous. We tried for two and a half years to get you back, Harry, but the whole family kept us from doing that. Why do you think he left you with Kagura? He knew that if he told her we weren't to have you, then we wouldn't lay a hand on you. She's stubborn when she wants to be. She is the Boar, after all," she said, not even bothering to wipe away her tears.

"Where have you _been_?" he snarled, barely noticing his hands clenching into fists.

"I was always near you. I just couldn't let you _know_ I was there. After what happened to your dad…I couldn't lose you, too. Do you understand?"

"No," he said flatly.

"Harry," Ginny said softly.

He looked at her. She was biting her lip and glancing from him to his mother and back again. "I think she has a point. I know you're angry, but maybe you should just let things go. Do we really have time for you to stand around and be pissed off at your mom because she tried to keep you safe when you were younger?" she whispered.

He ground his teeth together and looked at his mother. Lily had tears in her eyes, but she still looked like someone who had been through enough that this wouldn't break her completely.

"Let's go inside. No point in standing out here all night," he said finally, putting his arm around Ginny and leading her inside. He heard his mom follow, and he thought he even heard her let out a relieved sigh. "What's your real name, anyway?" he asked as he opened the door.

"I'm Mayuko Sohma," Lily said. "Used to be Mayuko Shiraki, if it's any use to you," she added helpfully.

Harry shook his head. "No," he said as they stepped inside.

Instantly, everyone shut up and turned to look at them. Even Mizuki, her face buried in Fred's shoulder, looked up and wiped her eyes.

"Is…is everything okay, oba-san?" Kisa asked shyly.

Lily nodded. "We're fine, Kisa-kun. Thank you," she said, smiling at her.

She smiled and went back to stirring whatever was in the pot on the stove. Mizuki grinned and waved at them all. "Hell-uuuu, Mayu!" she called happily, even though she was just across the kitchen from her.

Lily grinned and waved back. "Hell-uuuu, Mizuki!"

Mizuki giggled and tugged on Fred's shirt. "That's her. That's our Sensei," she whispered.

Everyone's eyes were on them. "Are you all going to keep staring at us, or are we going to eat something?" Mayu said suddenly, stomping over and sitting down next to Tonks. Harry and Ginny wedged themselves in between his mother and Hermione, who still sat by Ron and kept glancing at the red-haired boy and smiling a strange, unfathomable smile.

Tonks laughed harshly and reached behind her for a slice of bread from the basket. "No need to starve, Mayu," she said, handing the bread to Mayuko.

"You're looking well," Mayuko said to Lupin around a mouthful of bread.

Lupin's face suddenly creased into a half-grin. "Twelve years with no black," he said.

Mayu nodded. "That's good. I suppose she's helping…?" she said, glancing at Tonks.

"Damn straight I am," Tonks said, slapping her palm down on the table and grinning at her.

Lupin laughed and gave her a one-armed hug. "Rub it in, why don't you," he said, looking at her fondly.

She tossed her hair behind her shoulder. "I will if I want to," she said primly.

"I miss my Kyo-kun!" Kagura suddenly wailed, burying her face in her hands again.

Instantly, Kisa, the plump woman, and Mrs. Weasley began patting her back and soothing her. Mizuki rolled her eyes and leaned against the counter, peering at Kagura. "You know, all that does is make the rest of us want to slap you," she sighed. She glanced at Kisa and smiled. "Right, Kisa-kun?"

Kisa instantly blushed deeply and began stammering, "Oh, no. It-it's not that big of a deal…"

Mizuki roared with laughter. "I love you, Kisa-kun! You're so adorable!" she giggled, throwing her arms around the orange-haired woman and hugging her tight.

Kisa smiled shyly, as the others laughed.

"I was serious about that hanging out with Honda-san," Tonks grumbled. "You're turning into her."

"That's not a bad thing," the blond man piped up. "Tohru is a very nice person!" He flung his arms out to either side and nearly hit Ron in the back of the head.

"Hey!" he yelped, swinging around to glare at the man.

The blond man pressed his hands over his mouth, laughing. "Oops," he said, his voice muffled.

"You really are too hyper, Dad…" Neville said, the first words Harry had heard him say.

Hermione's jaw dropped as she twisted around in her chair to stare at him. "You're Neville's dad?" she gasped.

The blond man nodded. "Mm-hmm. My name is Momiji Sohma!" he said, lowering his hands.

"But I thought you were…" Hermione began, but she suddenly clamped her mouth shut and blushed fiercely.

"Crazy? Yeah, he is," Hiro said, leaning against the wall and eyeing Momiji distastefully.

"Oh, Hiro-kun. Our Momiji-kun isn't crazy. He's just…Momiji," Mizuki said, shrugging.

Hiro just grunted and rolled his eyes. Everyone laughed again, apparently amused at something the kids hadn't caught on to. They just exchanged grins and shrugs. Harry smiled down at Ginny as she snuggled closer to him. Mayu and Mizuki had, at some point, been caught up in a debate as to who was more adorable as a kid, Kisa or Momiji. Mrs. Weasley, Kisa, and Kagura were still arguing cheerfully about how much rice should be made. The others were just milling around, talking and laughing and being squished against walls. Altogether, it was nice. The warmth in the kitchen drove out the cold night outside, and, more importantly, drove the thought of Voldemort from everyone's minds. A feeling of quiet contentment stole over Harry, so easily he almost didn't notice. Fighting a losing battle doesn't seem nearly as hard when you're surrounded by people who love you. Don't ask why. Just one of life's little joys.

**Author's note: **Ya like? No like? I know this was long, but I sort of got caught up in the sense of the thing. And as to who would win the "who's cuter" argument: sorry, Momiji-kun; I love you, but Kisa-kun is just so CUTE!! huggles Kisa I hope you liked this chapter, and please review!


End file.
